Automatic car-stopper



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1. J. NERACHER.

AUTOMATIC GAR STOPPER.

No, 599,471. Patented Feb. 22,1898.

MM lifise uh .Z rcpcker 2 mm; Q 4 M (N0 Modell) 3 Sl1eets-Sheet 3.

I. J. NERACHER.

AUTOMATIC GAR STOPPER.

Patented Feb. 22, 1898.

I I iHllHlmH lJ'o sepk Jirwcher ra'rne l N in o INOZENS JOSEPH NERAOHER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC CAR STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,471, dated February 22, 1898. Application filed May 12, 1896. Renewed July 16,1897. Serial No. 644,849. 9T0 model.)

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, INOZENS Josnrrr NE- RACHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car-Stoppers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic safety car-brakes and life-guards; and the object of the invention is to provide a braking or'stopping device which will operate to automatically stop the car on approaching any object or obstruction upon the track.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an electric car having my invention applied thereto and held out of operation. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when any obstacle is encountered. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking toward the left; and Figs. 4C and 5 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 2, but showing a slightlymodified arrangement. Fig. 6 is a view of a detail.

The body of a car of ordinary construction is represented in the drawings at X and the wheels at Y. At the forward end of the car I provide a swinging frame A, pivotally suspended from the car-platform and depending into sufficiently-close proximity to the roadbed, so that were a child, animal, or any ob ject lying upon the track the swinging frame would contact therewith and be swung backward and liberate or release the braking or stopping mechanism, which would at once be automatically applied to stop the car, all as hereinafter described. The frame is intended to extend over the whole track-surface, so that no object could be upon the track without coming in contact therewith, and it is sufficiently light to contact with a human being without injury. The frame A is also connected, by a suitable lever D, with a footpedal O, located within reach of the motorman, whereby if the latter sees any object upon the track he can rock the frame to apply the stopping mechanism without waiting for the frame to contact with such object.

A weight D may be provided, if necessary,

for aiding in holding the frame against accidental rearward movement.

The frame is supported by suitable hangers B, and its upper end is connected with arearwardly-extending rod E, passing through or over suitable supporting means and rearward into proximity to a pulley or roller G, supported from suitable hangers F. This pulley is intended to support the bail H of the railshoes, through which the stopping action is accomplished. This bail H is normally hooked over the pulley and is retained thereon by its own weight, as shown in Fig. 1, thus supporting the brake-shoes out of contact with the rails and wheels. It will be seen, however, that the draw upon the rod due to the swinging of the frame will cause its hooked end to engage with the bail and disengage it from the pulley, thus allowing the bail and the shoes supported thereby to drop. The shoes are represented at J and are approximately wedge-shaped, having a flat lower surface to engage with and bear upon the rails and a concaved upper surface to receive the wheel.

The brake-shoes are connected together by the vertical and horizontal boards or crossbars J and J, which extend down far enough when the shoes are lowered to pass or scoop under any person who might be lying upon the track. These boards or cross-bars also serve to keep the shoes the requisite distance apart to cause them to rest upon the rails when lowered. In order to cause the shoes to swing rearward when dropped by the roller, I provide the links L, pivoted to the car-body and having their free ends loosely connected with the said shoes by means of a pin-andslot connection, and thus when the shoes are dropped the links will cause them to be swung toward the wheels, and when they rest upon the track the wheels will ride upon them and rest in the concave upper surface.

In order to prevent the wheels from passin g completely over the shoes, I provide a connection between the shoes and the forward portion of the car. This connection may be a simple chain, but I prefer that shown in the drawings, comprising two links M N, having interlocking eyes sliding upon each other, the said eyes coming in contact when the shoes swing rearward, thus preventing any further extension of the links.

I find it desirable to provide means for antomatically shutting off the current from the motor when the wheels ride upon the shoes, and this may be in the form of acut-out mechanism connected with the above described operating mechanism and operated thereby, or it may be accomplished by providing the shoes with an insulating material upon their upper surface, whereby the wheels will be completely insulated.

Should the apparatus not work with sufficient rapidity by gravity alone, it may be modified, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in which springs assist the action of gravitation to cause the shoes to contact more quickly with the wheels and rails. This is accomplished by the addition to the parts above mentioned (said parts being slightly changed to accord with the other features) of a rod Q, supported in suitable brackets and provided with a spring 0, which tends to draw it toward the left or forward into the position shown in Fig. 4. The rod is held normally against the pressure of the spring by means of the interposed toggle-arms r s, which, when they are in the position shown in Fig. 5, lie in the same plane and hold the rod against the pressure of the spring. One of the arms 0" has a downward-extending arm 4", which is engaged by a projection 19 on the rod E, so that the movement of rod E causes the connected arms of the toggle-levers to be pushed upward, permitting the spring to force the rod to the upper end of a lever T, the lower end of which bears against the cross-piece of the brake-shoes, so that as the rod E releases the bail H and the rod Q springs back the lower end of. the lever T will throw the brake-shoes quickly toward the wheels.

In case the current should not be cut off immediately upon the wheel mounting the shoe damage might be caused to the shoe or undue wear by reason of the wheel continuing to revolve, and to obviate this I provide a roller j, upon which the wheel may revolve without injury.

I claim 1. The combination with a car, of a swinging frame depending therefrom, a suspended guard, a permanently-arranged support, a suspending device carried directly by said guard independent of said support, for securing said guard to said support, and means acting directly on said device for detaching the same from said support, said means being free from and normally out of engagement with said device, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a car, of a swinging frame depending therefrom, a guard pivoted at one end, a suspending device secured to the opposite end thereof, a permanently-arranged support adapted to hold said device on the upper side thereof, a rod carried by said frame, said rod having its free end provided with a hook adapted to slide said suspending device off of said support when said frame is tilted, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a car, of a hanger depending from the floor thereof, a roller journaled therein, a brake, a suspending device therefor,supported on said roller,a swingframe, and a rod for disengaging said brake and roller, said rod being interposed between said frame and said roller, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a car, of a frame suspended from the front thereof,a suspended guard and brake, means for supporting the same, an independent rod carried by said frame for disengaging said brake and guard, a projection on said rod and mechanism under spring tension operated by said projection for accelerating the operation of said guard and brake, substantially as described.

5. In combination,a pivoted frame, a weighted lever connected therewith, and a foot-treadle connected with the said lever, a brakeshoe and connections between the frame and shoe, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature inpresence of witnesses.

I. JOSEPH NERAOHER.

Witnesses:

W. E. MoRRow, WILLIAM NERACHER, JNo. JAcoBY. 

